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Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Photo: AFP Dissanayake wins run-off after second round of counting First election since Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis Dissanayake polls 42.3 percent of counted votes Opposition leader Premadasa gets 32.8 percent Sri Lankans elected Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the new president on Sunday, putting faith in his pledge to fight corruption and bolster a fragile economic recovery following the South Asian nation's worst financial crisis in decades. Dissanayake, 55, who does not possess political lineage like some of his rivals in the presidential election, led from start to finish during the counting of votes, knocking out incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. "We believe that we can turn this cou...

By Uditha Jayasinghe, Sudipto Ganguly Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Photo: AFP Sri Lanka's Marxist-leaning leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, grabbed a commanding early lead on Sunday in his bid to become the next president of the debt-ridden country seeking to elect a leader to bolster its fragile economic recovery. Dissanayake won about 53 percent of a million votes counted so far in the election, Sri Lanka's Election Commission data showed. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was second at 22 percent, ahead of President Ranil Wickremesinghe in third place. About 75 percent of the eligible 17 million people in the Indian Ocean island nation cast their votes in Saturday's election, according to the poll body. Dissanayake contested as candidate for the National People's Power (NPP) allianc...

By Catarina Demony for Reuters Mohamed Al Fayed at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in 2007 for a pre-inquest hearing into the death of Dodi Al Fayed and Princess Diana. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP The late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed sexually abused female staff at his London department store Harrods, forced them to have medical screenings and threatened consequences if they tried to complain, lawyers for alleged victims say. One woman who had worked for Fayed at the luxury Knightsbridge store called him "a monster". Harrods apologised on Thursday after more than 20 women told the BBC Al Fayed had sexually abused and, in some cases, raped them. He died last year aged 94. "Underneath Harrods' glitz and glamour was a toxic, unsafe and abusive environment," lawyer Gloria All...

President Masoud Pezeshkian has expressed condolences to the victims' families. (File image) Photo: AFP / Atta Kenare A gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran's South Khorasan Province killed at least 51 people and injured 20, Iran's state media said on Sunday. The accident was caused by a methane gas explosion in two blocks, B and C, of the mine run by the Madanjoo company, state media said. "Seventy-six percent of the country's coal is provided from this region and around 8 to 10 big companies are working in the region including Madanjoo company," the governor of South Khorasan Province Ali Akbar Rahimi told state TV on Sunday. The rescue operation in block B has been completed. Of the 47 workers who were in the block 30 died and 17 were injured, Rahimi said earlier. Rescue operations i...

Photo: AFP / Andri Tambunan At least four people have been killed and dozens more injured in a mass shooting in one of the most popular entertainment areas of Birmingham, Alabama. The shooting erupted just after 11pm Saturday local time (4pm Sunday NZT) in the Five Points South area. CNN reported that two men and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, while a fourth victim died in hospital later. "Multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people," Birmingham police officer Truman Fitzgerald told CNN. No suspects were yet in custody. The victims were all shot on the streets or footpaths, Fitzgerald told CNN. Detectives were trying to determine whether the shooters were on foot or in a vehicle. Latest from Birmingham mass shooting in Five Points South. Shots were fired just...

By Andrew Mills, Reuters A mural of late Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed in 2022, in the West Bank. Photo: AFP Israeli forces raided the bureau of media network Al Jazeera in the West Bank city of Ramallah early on Sunday morning (local time), issuing it with a military order to shut down operations, the network said. The Qatari channel aired live footage of Israeli troops entering the office with their weapons drawn and handing a military court order to Ramallah bureau chief Walid al-Omari forcing the bureau to close for 45 days. Al-Omari subsequently said the order accused Al Jazeera of "incitement to and support of terrorism" and that the soldiers confiscated the bureau's cameras before leaving, Al Jazeera reported. Israeli communications minister Shlomo Ka...

A member of the Israeli security forces stands guard inside a cordoned-off area in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district of Israel, targeted by a reported strike by Lebanon's Hezbollah on Sunday. Photo: AFP / Jack Guez Israel says it hit 290 targets, destroyed rocket launchers Hezbollah says it targeted airbase with dozens of missiles Hezbollah says 16 members killed in Friday strike Iran-backed group in Iraq reports attacks on Israel By Timour Azhari and Miro Maman, Reuters Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire into Sunday, with Israeli warplanes carrying out the most intense bombardment in almost a year of conflict across Lebanon's south and Hezbollah firing rockets deep into northern Israel. The Israeli military said it struck around 290 targets on Saturday, including thousan...